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OPINION

A humanitarian concern

Ventura County Star
Published 4:20 p.m. PT Dec. 3, 2018

Tear gas is used by border police to prevent groups of people from crossing El Chaparral, in Tijuana, Mexico, Nov. 25, 2018. A group of migrants from the caravan of Central Americans who advanced towards the San Ysidro gateway deviated from the planned route to try to cross the border wall by other points.(Photo: David Guzmán, EPA-EFE)

I am writing to express my personal dismay over the use of tear gas by the United States on migrants seeking asylum at the Mexican border. It is especially unsettling to see the use of force against mothers and children.

Our country has always been a dream for many around the world seeking safe haven in the United States from oppressive regimes, torture and political persecution. We cannot let that dream die.

Our Constitution allows for people seeking asylum from other countries to enter the United States and request that asylum. In fact, I believe the United States Refugee Act of 1980 sets forth a permanent and systematic procedure to admit asylum-seekers, particularly in the case of humanitarian concerns.

There can be no doubt the mass of people gathered at our border are a humanitarian concern.

The world is watching as this drama is being played out at the border, and what they are seeing is not the United States we love and honor. Where is the justice, domestic tranquility and the blessings of liberty our Constitution promises? Where is the equality Lincoln spoke of, and where are the unalienable rights outlined in our Declaration of Independence?

We must not let violence at our borders become the hallmark of the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

We must protect the values established by our forefathers and the generations of veterans who fought to keep our country free and safe.

Editor: The author is a member of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.